[Siobhan]

There have been are so many recommendations and proven strategies that exist to dismantle anti-Black racism, including specifically in Canada, many of which are mentioned in this course!

A huge area of opportunity for making systemic change is ensuring that Black history and Black realities are integrated into school curricula and that teachers are educated on anti-racism so that educational gaps are addressed at a societal level. It is challenging to change curriculums, but if you assess curriculum objectives and outcomes there is always a way to integrate Black experiences into achieving the outlines goals of the existing curriculums – often no matter the subject!

Additionally, as I work in a non-profit, I think a huge area for improvement is addressing white supremacy in our work cultures, such as ensuring companies and organizations have anti-racism policies that specifically address anti-Black racism.

[Linda]

Education like these webinars allows community members to acquire some knowledge about the topic and reflect on their experiences.

[Alyssa]

• By teaching everyone, including ourselves, about the background, existence, and various manifestations of anti-Black racism in Canada.

• Calling out racism and discrimination when we encounter it, as well as confronting our own prejudices and stereotypes.

[Meaghan]

I think there are several ways we can work towards dismantling anti-Black racism, including:

* Educating ourselves

* Listening to and understanding peoples’ truths

* Standing up for what is right

* Creating mutual relationships

* Providing equal access to health care and other resources by reducing barriers

[Barb]

Keep talking about it!

[Slaven]

I would start with spreading awareness and promoting education.

[David]

I’m not sure if or how I can answer this question. My brain is swirling with information and I am shocked at the lack of education I have experience about these issues. Michele Johnson’s lecture on Black Canadian History was shocking – I was never taught any of it in school. I think possibly that is where to start. In education. Teaching Black history and influence on Canada in all of its aspects. Listening to Andrea Davis lecture on black masculinity, also got me thinking about how economic position (the 1%, the wealthy) fuel anti-black racism. I think for a lot of while people, terms like white privilege and anti-black racism aren’t terms that they consider (example of white privilege) because they don’t face those specific terms in their daily lives. They don’t have to reflect on those issues so through ignorance they don’t realize they reinforce those realities for other people. I think for a lot of people that have been essentially beaten up by various systems e.g. lack of government supports, corporate downsizing etc that favour the wealthy, and when you see governments (mostly conservative) selling resources and things like healthcare to private companies; and as quality of life continues to get worse, white people have the same practical needs/fears/concerns as members of the black community. They’re effectively marginalized from an economic perspective and can’t access the resources necessary for survival. Where the current systems of control and oppression reinforce antiblack racism is by then saying the blacks, muslims, immigrants are going to take away what you little you have. The black lives matter movement is positioned by MSM and right wing media as a fundemental threat to whiteness and white existence. So when the black community is rightly standing up to say black lives matter, that they need the same supports and opportunities as members of other communities, “marginalized” white people then look at “Others” as a threat. Consquently, systems of antiblack racism are maintained in order to control the fear of marginalized whites to use as a weapon. I hope that makes sense. Bascially, as long as the powers that be remain in power, their will be a continuous struggle to dismantle anti-black racism.

[Nathalie]

Contributing to centering black youth and raising awareness about black racism specifically requires a collective of individuals, communities, and institutional bodies to be actively engaged in the work that is to be done for positive change. I believe more inclusive spaces should be made available for such underrepresented groups, to allow for a sense of inclusivity and empowerment, as well as a space to have voices and stories heard. Educating others is another crucial piece of this, in providing historical knowledge, information, and overall awareness to the cultural and social issues that have been persistent over the years. With this, others will be able to relay such information and offer reliable sources to help increase awareness and a better understanding of the many experiences and struggles faced. With this, we can represent, empower, and advocate for these individuals by continuing to provide resources, support, and guidance. The voices, experiences and perspectives of black youth should be the face of these conversations and content generated by involving and highlighting any achievements, challenges and contributions of black individuals and communities. Ongoing and active empowerment, advocacy, and collaboration towards racial justice and equality through anti-racist initiatives, sharing stories of resilience, and encouraging others to take action against racism in their own communities can amplify all efforts in contributing to a collective movement for change.

[Thia]

What we’re doing right now, creating a platform for educational reform, and bringing awareness to anti-Black racism. All my years being a student, we were never spoke about anti-Black racism or any kind of racism and that’s just extremely disturbing to look back onto now. Luckily, I was brought up in a very diverse community so without even realizing I became an ally to many of my black friends, especially when racism was present in my own South Asian home. I learned so much from my friends and became hyper aware of their reality which many people in less diverse areas might not have had the same opportunity to learn. Which is why I think bringing awareness to all education systems throughout Canada will begin the domino effect of dismantling racism. What I learned from my friends, I was able to teach my parents and with time they too changed their perspective.

I enjoyed and learned so much just by going through each module and I hope we continue in this direction. Thank you so much for everyone who played a part in creating this certificate.

[Eric]

• Promote education on the history and contributions of Black Canadians in schools and communities.
• Encourage open conversations about racism, privilege, and systemic discrimination.
• Challenge stereotypes and biases through media literacy programs.

[Danish]

Living in Canada, a lot of people like to assume that we are ever-accepting people and completely non-judgemental, as if racism doesn’t exist. In reality, racism is deeply embedded in numerous systems, institutions, and structures that need to be looked into and addressed at their core. We need to start calling out anti-Black racism, name it for what it is and demand answers. We need to start incorporating this work in schools from a young age so we don’t have to wait until university/college to learn about these things. We need to take accountability and engage in critical reflection of ourselves and the world around us.

[Judith]

Hi there.

I agree with you. I have worked in the education system for a few years now, and I as a new comer (born in Canada, raised in Mexico and now back in Canada), was shocked to find that some sectors were offering only “Applied” courses at certain schools, not giving students(black) the opportunity to even dream of going to University, as they were not taking “Academic” courses in HS. What do you call that? Discrimination, right?

To top it, I worked at a TCDSB school in a black community area, and the teachers were white. I felt students were not represented by any teachers. But how can they be represented if going to university was a challenge to many black students? How else could they become teachers?

[Fiona]

Education, self-reflection, action and working towards changing outdated policies, procedures and practices.

[Samer]

Educating ourselves on the privileges we enjoy as White Caucasians helps us begin to appreciate what systemic racism looks like https://admin.artsci.washington.edu/sites/adming/files/unpacking-invisible-knapsack.pdf . In this article P McIntosh describes the simple privileges that we take for granted as White people. Educating ourselves with the real life experiences of Black people can help us empathize, understand, and change.

[Amina]

Dismantling Anti-Black Racism requires multifaceted efforts, however at its core is the importance of political organization and lobbying in order to change the laws, the policies, the educational system, the prison reform, the housing disparities, etc… Real change is not possible without leverage and political power, without it, anti-black racism initiatives are mostly performative.

[Nimra]

Spread awareness, run campaigns to make public more aware of the issue of racism in Canada. We must not forget to check our own biases first.

[Deinera]

Thank you to Natalee for starting this thread, and for all the sharing that other folks have done. I learned a lot by reading your responses. As the previous posters have noted, there are so many steps we need to take, and they are all important. At the individual level, for me as a white cis-woman (as another poster mentioned – sorry I can’t see the name with the reply screen up!), it is critical for me to sit back and listen to what the Black folks in the room (and particularly Black women and other marginalized genders) want and need, and to then see in what ways I can be helpful (or not) in reaching those goals. The history of (white) feminism is to erase the voices of Black women, and I don’t want to reify that history – it is critical to de-center and de-stabilize the primacy of whiteness in these spaces. This is also the importance of critical reflection as discussed in the last module. I also really appreciate what Marcella wrote about including the full and accurate history of Black people in Canada, as presented in Module 1. This needs to happen at all levels of education, but as a post-secondary instructor, one thing I can do is to center this history in the courses I teach to undergraduate and graduate psychology students. Finally, as others have mentioned, specifically naming Anti-Black Racism, and not lumping it in with discrimination experienced by ‘BIPOC’ communities is also really important I think. The discrimination faced by the diverse communities that make up the group called ‘BIPOC’ is based in unique histories, and this needs to be reflected in our attention to these issues, including by specifically naming Anti-Black racism.

[Natalee]

Working towards dismantling anti-Black racism in Canada is an ongoing process. I think the first step is acknowledging that there is an issue in Canada. There is an issue within the systems. We speak about DEI, however, many organisations have not even adjusted their polices and procedures to include DEI practices. As well I believe that taking courses such as this one equips us to better dismantle anti-Black racism. We need to continue to educate and every student going into Post-Seconday Education should have to take a DEI class. To dismantle anti-Black racism starts with us individually and then we work as a collective group to bring forth change. We need to continue to advocate and ensure our leaders in government are also held accountable to ensuring Canada continues to work towards a plan to dismantle anti-Black racism.

[Char]

I think, as individuals, we have two important ‘first steps’ to dismantling anti-Black racism. The first step is to dismantle anti-Black racism within our own thinking and practice – if we do not recognize how anti-Black racism impacts our own thoughts and actions we cannot fully challenge it (as we may be perpetuating anti-Black racism). The second step, which can be done in conjunction with step one, is to begin naming anti-Black racism when we see it in our workplaces. Creating awareness of anti-Black racism allows us to bring others into conversations about how it shows up in our work and can lead to conversations about how to make impactful changes.

[Eugenia]

I think one important step is having White People silent and allow Black People and Minorities speak their piece. As a White Woman, I need to listen and make my listening active by using an empathetic attitude that let me try and fell what it really means being not- White.

I also think that media could advocate much more and with a more appropriate lens for values like inclusion and diversity, in order to awake Government institutions and becoming more proactive at a macro level.

Last but not least we need a stronger educational environment, where school staff take a path of self-reflection and authentic growth in order to transfer this level of awareness in the students. We need to create more opportunities of interactive connections that help future generations to think about the importance of this topic.

[Nawesa (Marcella)]

A great place to start would be telling a fulsome and truthful history. Black people have been in canada as long as europeans have. The first Black people came to Turtle Island/canada as enslaved Afrikans, as property of the europeans. Black people were forced to build this country against their will for free, yet Black people are treated like they have no right to be here. Once Black people are included in the telling of this country’s history, I believe that would help to begin the process of eliminating a bit of the anti-Black racism. For example, most canadians do not know that Black men also fought in the wars to protect this country. Yet when remembrance day rolls around each year, only faces of non Black, non Indigenous and non racialized soldiers are depicted. Why is that? Why have Black people been left out of the history of this country?

As well, anti-Black racism is written in the policies of this country. Black people were/are welcome to come to canada to work, but are not welcome to stay and raise their families. canada needs to acknowledge its poor treatment of Black people; canada needs to apologize to Black people, and not in a performative, disingenuous way; canada needs to pay reparations to Black people; canada needs to write policies to undo and eliminate the anti-Black racism they condone each and every day; canada needs to redirect monies that currently go into policing Black people into social services, programs and communities that will empower Black people and enable them to thrive. The police have finally admitted to targeting Black people. Black people face anti-Black racism in all aspects of their lives. canada needs to abolish their caste system which has intentionally placed Black people at the bottom of society.

[Danielle]

For the foreseeable future, there will always be a need to attend to barriers and seek to reduce them. Similarly to addressing accessibility: there will always be a need for accommodation, however universal design can help us create inclusive approaches. So I hope that as individuals work to educate themselves, unlearn bad habits, and critically self-reflect we will start seeing more programming designed with ALL users in mind. In this way, we will begin to hold our systems accountable. Further, it is clear to me that this knowledge is imperative for anyone designing program WITH (not for) Black communities. This was a great learning experience!!!

[Tim]

This is my first entry. I am a late middle aged white youth employment counselor who began his career in this field working in the Jane Finch community for four years and loving the work and the community I found there. I have been working for about a decade now in the northern part of York Region which is predominantly white yet as I write this I am working with a handful of young black people that I know are impacted in various ways by Anti-Black racism. I have four teenage children who are all very thoughtful but I don’t believe they have learned what I have already learned in the first module of this course. My commitment is to finish this course and make a commitment to ongoing learning. I have already shared some of the learning with some of my own family and they were surprised and had their eyes opened by some of the historical injustices I shared. I intend to connect with the local agency supporting the Black Community in York Region – NACCA – and find out from them the best ways to support the youth I am working with and I intend to continue to educate myself and share my learning with family, friends and colleagues. This is what I can do to start.

[Elizabeth]

when we beginning to recognize the effect of collaboration and promoting community engagement, that gives the communities agency to voice their thought and their needs are fundamentals in dismantling anti-Black racism. For example, when we look at the criminal justice system or the educational system, how Black youth are represented within the system. Especially, the many forms of oppressions and barriers that Black communities experience and the ongoing racial inequalities when accessing resources. Thus, Black youth needs people that represent who they are to make a transformative change that will benefit these populations. Without addressing and acknowledging racial disparities, we cannot dismantle anti-Black racism. It shows we need to stand in solidarity and challenges practices that reinforces stereotypes, microaggressions, racial profiling, discriminations and social injustices that Black youth faces in their everyday lives.

[Lisa]

Something that comes to mind for me is our collective need to collect, critically analyze, and disseminate race-based data across Canada as part of a comprehensive anti-black racism (ABR) strategy. For years, and particularly during the recent pandemic, Canada has been criticized for “colour blind” data collection policies (Institute for Canadian Citizenship (inclusion.ca)). I think of the phrase “we can’t address what we can’t measure” any time I hear someone say that racism is not an issue in Canada today. The small amount of fragmented race-based data that we do have access to shows us that systemic racism is a very real issue across Canada and that it leads to unequal health outcomes for BIPOC families. I was glad to see that the need for better race-based data collection policies was addressed in this course. In addition, I appreciate that presenter Chantal Phillips reinforces the idea that race-based data collection alone is not enough to address ABR. I have been watching the race-based data collection work that is being done in Ontario since 2020 and hope that the lessons learned from this work are scaled and spread across the country.

[Caitlin]

I think there is a lot of work to do but I think finding solutions and supporting movements that directly challenge white supremacy at a systemic level is the place to begin. Black Lives Matter Canada is an example of a great movement that has done this in many ways. I think also acting within your own sphere of influence to change policies at work or in organizations you are connected to is another way to challenge white supremacy systemically. Acting in solidarity with Black people and with their concerns is a continual practice to challenge white supremacy as well.

[Georgette]

I believe Anti-Black Racism is not being addressed collaboratively by all stakeholders in the educational system. Teachers need to develop more competency in addressing Anti-Black Racism and use not some but all the resources that they can to enhance their practice and help to dismantle this issue.

[Nawesa (Marcella)]

<div>I don’t think anti-Black racism is being addressed at all in the so-called education system. I graduated from high school in 1985 and it was a toxic place to be; I HATED school! As a Black student, I did not find it to be an empowering place at all, and I was not inspired or encouraged to do well. In fact, I felt ashamed to be Black because the existence of Black people did appear anywhere in the curriculum, I began to doubt my own existence. Fast forward to 2023, and my understanding is, not much has changed, except maybe removing some harmful books from the curriculum, like Huckleberry Finn. </div>

I think teachers teach the curriculum they are given. Do they have any leeway with it? In addition, they cannot teach what they themselves do not know. The curriculum needs a major overhaul!

In terms of teachers developing competency in addressing anti-Black racism, I agree. When I went to school in the 70s and 80s, teachers did not know how to address it, so they simply did not. It was ignored. Pretending racism does not exist does not equip them to handle these situations. Contrary to popular believe, pretending racism does not exist will not make it vanish. Instead, it will thrive.